From Where You Are
by 6sixteen
Summary: After being gone for four years Beth is forced to return to her hometown when the news of her adoptive mother's death reaches her ears. Now that she is back she will have to mend the bonds that she severed when she left years ago. Bethyl/au/spin off of Under the Peach Grove (can be read without reading UtPG first)
1. Chapter 1

**AN/Hello all! I am starting my newest story! I know I have so many going right now but this little plot bunny was whispered in my ear by my beta yourroyalyaverageprincess and now I can't seem to get it out of my head. (: I will try and finish up Blood Bank as soon as I can! Thank you for reading and enduring my ability to do too many things at once!/ **

**_From Where You Are_**

_It's been 4 years since Beth left Claxton, Georgia with no intention of going back. But when Missy Shay dies mysteriously and the Dixon boys are falling into more and more trouble Beth can't find a reason not to go back. _

_(Spin off of Under the Peach Grove-don't need to read to understand)_

* * *

**Part I**

"In the green rags of the Bible I tore up  
The straight silk of childhood on my head  
I left the house, I fled  
My mother's brow where I had no ambition"  
-"Running Away" by Rosemary Tonks

xxx

She was sitting on the floor of a bathroom in some rundown bar in the middle of Atlanta. The only company was the sound of Chloe gagging and puking behind her.

_How did I get here?_

She doesn't really remember.

Four years of running and all she remembers is to keep moving.

But she always ends up back in the same place.

In the same cheap motel in Atlanta.

Chloe continues heaving in the stall behind her and it's starting to make her head swim. Gag, Cough, Spit.

Gag, Cough, Spit.

_Why the fuck am I here?_

"Chloe," Beth says softly and desperately, "Are you okay?"

She tilts her head ever so slightly. The cold hard press of the metal against her overheated cheek makes her shiver.

Chloe doesn't respond. But the sound of gagging tells Beth that her friend isn't done yet.

_I feel like I'm 15 again._

And maybe she is. Maybe she is just her 15 year old self sitting in a 19 year old body, on the floor of a bathroom in some run down bar in Atlanta. Maybe she hasn't changed. Maybe all those years of running around Georgia haven't taught her anything. Just taught her to keep her back straight and her hand clenched around her pocket knife in her purse. Maybe it has just taught her how to be tough.

But she still feels like 15 year old Beth standing in her childhood home holding an envelope full of cash.

_"Never coming back," _Missy's voice says in her head, _"I love you."_

Beth's eyes go to the wall across from her. The bright stained tile, the fluorescent lights above her head making the whole room drown in yellow.

Drowning and drowning in it.

"Doesn't this remind you of that time when we were 15?" Beth says out loud. She knows Chloe can't hear her. The story is mostly for her own ears. "Remember how you drank so much because of something your mom said... that stupid bitch." Beth breaths out a laugh. Her thin fingers begin to twirl her beaded bracelet on her wrist. Beth tilts her head to the side again, so that her cheek is pressed against the cold metal of the stall.

"Remember? You were so pissed. I told you not to drink too much. Told you to be an adult about it. We were kids. It was stupid," Beth looks back to her hands in her lap. "We were stupid," it comes out barely a whisper this time and Beth is sure that Chloe really can't hear her at all.

She tilts her head up and stares at the ceiling.

"It was Justin Laker's party. That one kid that told all of Claxton and beyond that I tasted like strawberries. Remember that? God you were so mad. Tried to fight all of them." Beth shakes her head at the thought.

"Anyway, you were sloppy drunk. Puking in Justin Laker's mom's private bathroom. Like all, over the bathroom. I don't think you knew at the time how bad it was. But it was everywhere and Justin came in screaming to get out of his house." Beth pauses again to let out a laugh.

"So I carried you. Carried your heavy, drunk, ass down Justin's long ass driveway. I had to call Merle. Do you know how embarrassed I was? After not talking to him for two years I had to call him to come save us from the side of the road." Beth moves her hands to her face and pushes away the blonde strands that were beginning to fall there. She hadn't realized that she was crying.

As soon as she felt the cold tears a sob broke out from her lips followed by a laugh.

"And then... and then we get back to my house to find Missy sitting on the front porch like a real mom. Siting there with her hands on her hips glaring at us until she saw how fucked up you were. I've never seen her be so... so good before. She carried you up those front steps. Laid you down on the couch and fed you bread and water until you fell asleep."

Beth breathed out shakily and shook her head.

"God, are we just meant to relive that for the rest of our lives?"

A sharp snort from behind her made her realize that Chloe had finally stopped puking and was now leaning back against the cold metal directly behind her. Beth could almost feel her best friend's presence pressed against her back.

"I remember cryin' on your mama's shoulders for two hours straight that night," Chloe said in a slur. Beth could tell that she was sobering up a bit. But she was still drunk. On account that she actually called Missy Beth's mama.

"Missy ain't never been so good to anyone before," Beth says with a smile. She swears she can feel Chloe smiling on the other side of the bathroom stall.

"Do you miss it?" Is Chloe's soft question.

Beth raises her eyes to the fluorescent light above her and stares until she thinks she is blind. She slams her eyes shut and lets out another cold hard sob.

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Chloe has never dealt with hangovers well.

So when she wakes up on the floor of Beth's motel room moaning it is no real surprise.

Except that maybe the fact that she is even there is a surprise.

Beth sits up from the shitty bed and looks down at Chloe who is sprawled out on the floor below her. Her arms and legs splayed out like an octopus.

_Why is Chloe here?_

Right, Right.

Beth knows why Chloe is here.

Her eyes wander down to the bandage under her blue beaded bracelet and sighs.

She knows exactly why Chloe is here.

She also knows the exact moment that Chloe is awake.

"Cat got your tongue?" Beth asks. She pulls her knees up from under the blanket of the bed and rests her chin against her bony knee. Chloe doesn't make a move to look at her for a moment. She just lays there on the dirty carpet with her eyes open, staring into space.

"Hello," Beth says loudly, "Earth to Chloe."

The brunette turns her head and looks up at Beth, squinting her eyes ever so slightly.

"Hey, Bethy," She says. Her voice is hoarse from all of the vomiting she did last night. Beth smiles despite the situation. That was Chloe. Silly, drunken, adorable Chloe.

"Hey," Beth responds softly. She rubs her chin against her knee absently. Her blonde hair flying lose in all directions. Chloe sits up off the floor and stretches her arms above her heads. She looks around the room and then looks up to Beth on the bed.

"This place is really disgusting, Beth," Chloe says her lips curling in disapproval.

Beth snorts, "We've slept in worse."

Chloe shakes her head and then laughs lightly.

There is a moment of brief silence where Beth is waiting for Chloe to just say it. Beth can see the wheels turning in her friend's head. As if she is struggling with words.

"I didn't just come here to get drunk and puke on you all night," Chloe says suddenly. She looks up to Beth and stares into her blue eyes with intensity.

"I came here for a reason."

Beth nods, "I figured as much. Been four years. Must be serious for you to show up now." Chloe flinches. And Beth knows that it hurts. She knows that Chloe must feel guilty. But Beth also knows that it is partially her fault. In all of the time that Beth was gone she never tried to contact Chloe. Not once.

Chloe shakes her head and then speaks again,

"I came here to bring you back to Claxton."

Beth's head lifts off her knees quickly and her blue eyes widen.

"You... You what?"

Chloe takes a deep breath.

"Beth I don't know how to say this..."

"Is it Daryl?!" Beth says loudly. There is panic in her voice. The same familiar sense of fear and nausea rising in her stomach. Is he hurt? Is he in trouble? No words can leave her lips as she stares wide eyed and shaking at Chloe.

Chloe's eyes widen in surprise and then a relative calm takes over her body.

"No, Bethy. Daryl is fine... well as fine as Daryl Dixon can get."

Beth relaxes. Her whole body going slack on itself.

"It's not the Dixons... well it's Missy."

Beth stays silent and waits for Chloe to continue.

"Missy is dead," Chloe states gently yet firmly. She watches Beth for any reaction. But when none comes Chloe decides that she should explain.

"She died in Jacksonville. They sent the body back to Claxton. The state buried her in the Claxton Cemetery. Everything Missy owns has been given to you. So you need to go back to Claxton and arrange for her things to be taken care of." Chloe says all of this slowly and patiently. Still. Still staring at Beth as if she is waiting for a breakdown to happen.

Beth is speechless for a few moments. She stares at her bracelets and runs the beads in between her fingers repeatedly. Then she stands, so suddenly that Chloe jumps, and begins to grab her things around the room and shove them into the duffle bag on the chair near the bathroom.

"When do we leave?" Beth asks without turning around. She continues to throw clothes into the duffle bag and pulls out an outfit for herself to wear for the day.

Chloe simply watches her with sad eyes.

"In an hour."

Beth nods numbly.

She's going back to Claxton, Georgia.

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It definitely doesn't feel the same as Chloe pulls into the familiar campground that Beth grew up in. 'Claxton Peach Grounds' is written on a tall entrance sign on the side of the road. The paint is chipped and falling off of the sign in clumps. Beth stares at it sadly as they slowly drive by it. It looks the same. Except maybe worse. Beth isn't sure.

The whole campground began to fall apart back when Beth was still a child. When she was 13 was when she really noticed it. The way the whole ground seemed to be drying up. The grass a sad brown and gold. The buildings chipping and sagging with age. Beth thought that it was still beautiful when she was 13 and naive. Now she sees the campground for the shit hole that it is.

Chloe pulls onto the gravel road passed the front office. The way is familiar. Down the gravel path and then the first left. Right at the end. The last house by the woods.

Beth's house.

They pull up in front of the old white building and Chloe pops the car into park. The silence and tension hang around them in that car for what feels like hours.

"You gonna go in?" Chloe asks looking over to Beth, "You gotta do this."

Beth doesn't spare a glance to Chloe as she stands and pulls herself out of the small car.

She steps around the front slowly and stands staring at the front of her childhood home.

The sun is still shining through the trees around her house, illuminating it against the green and blues of the place around it.

Almost making it look beautiful.

Beth turns her head to the left. There, not even 5 feet away, is an identical house.

It is cared for– The house has no evidence of chipped paint, or a sagging roof.

Peeking out from the side of the house Beth can see a brown plastic play house. She turns away hastily and looks back at her childhood home.

"Go in," Chloe says from the car behind her.

Beth looks over and down at Chloe.

"I have to go to work. Do you think you will be alright?" Chloe asks looking at her nervously.

She nods. Chloe gives Beth a sad smile and then pulls out. Leaving Beth behind in a cloud of dust.

Beth looks back to her childhood home and frowns. She was supposed to clean all of it? The inside was a mess. Beth knew that. When she left Claxton, shortly after Missy, she remembered leaving the home in a disarray. Clothes and belongings thrown across the floor.

The door to the house next door flies open and smacks against the siding. Beth jumps in surprise.

There standing in the door frame with wide eyes is Will Dixon.

"Beth Anne?" He asks suddenly. Beth finds herself smiling and then she feels her eyes become wet with tears.

"Will," She breathes out. They both move to meet each other on the steps of his screened in porch. Beth throws herself into Will's arms and cries. Loud gut wrenching sobs. Will simply rubs her back and pats her head as he did whenever she would cry as a child.

"You're back," Will says after Beth's sobs turn into quiet gulps of air. She pulls back a little to look up at him. His familiar face, lined with years of work and smoking. His hair is graying and Beth can't help but think that he is finally starting to look like a dad. He was really young when he had Merle. Then when Daryl came along it was too late to back out of parenthood. Just so happens that Will is really good at being a dad.

Beth nods and closes her eyes, "Missy..she..."

Will cuts her off, "I heard. I'm sorry."

Beth nods her thanks and then pulls back completely. She takes a step down and looks up to her surrogate father.

"I have to clean her house out. I don't know what I'm going to do after. I don't know if I'm going to stay," Beth watches Will's face fall as she says this. He looks at her sadly and then nods in understanding.

"Well," He says stepping back and into the screened in porch. He holds the door open for her, "Why don't you come in and have something to eat. Must have been a long ride from... where ever you were." Beth hesitates on the edge of the steps of his house.

"They aren't here," Will says finally, "Left a few months back. They usually stay gone for 6 months at a time. So you have a couple more months to hide from them." Will smiles knowingly. Beth can't help but think that it is a sad smile.

Beth lets her eyes wander back to the brown plastic log cabin.

_"C'mon Daryl! We can't have a dinner party without food and our guest!"_

_"Our guest is a cat, Beth."_

_"Pft. Still a guest!"_

Beth closes her eyes and soaks in the memory.

"C'mon," Will says gently. His voice soft and warm. He places a hand on her arm and gently guides her into the house. Beth opens her eyes and takes in the warm smell of wood and soup. Will lets her into the house and then closes the door behind them. There is a giant pot on the stove which is steaming and filling the home with an overwhelming aroma of tomatoes and what Beth assumes is deer meat.

The living room is the same. Large comfy brown couches that Beth remembers sleeping in during summer nights when she was a child. Her eyes scan the room for any sign of them. A pair of boots. A jacket. Anything. Any sign of Daryl Dixon. But there is none.

Beth sucks in a breath and turns to Will who is already pouring a glass of iced tea for Beth.

"Do they do this often?" Beth asks watching Will closely.

He looks at her with a raised eyebrow and simply nods.

Beth frowns. "Why? When did it start?"

Will places the jar of iced tea onto the counter and hands Beth her glass.

"I think you know the answer to that," He says gently.

Beth feels her eyes go wet again but she quickly pushes back the tears. She has cried more in the last two days than she has since she was 15.

"I'm sorry I left," She says looking at Will. She is trying to show him. With her eyes, how much she cares. How sorry she is.

Beth thinks he gets it when a small smile comes up on his lips.

"We love you, Beth Anne," He says with a shrug, "Could never hold it against you... after... after everythin' with Missy. Woulda left too." He shrugs and turns to sit at the stool next to the counter.

"I should have said goodbye," Beth says. Her voice cracks uneasily.

Will looks up at her and then shakes his head, "You said goodbye to Daryl. Don't owe Merle or I nothin'." A smile creeps back into his face.

"But you're back," He says, "I knew you would come back. Even if it's just to say goodbye."

Beth lets her eyes water this time and doesn't fight it. She places her glass onto the counter and falls into Will's arms for the second time that day.

She sobs into his chest and whispers "I'm sorry" over and over. Will rubs her back, "it's okay, kiddo. It's okay."

After a while Beth begins to think that it is okay.

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Missy's house is a shit hole. Beth can't lie about that. 4 years of no one being in it has definitely done it's toll.

She stands in the front room looking around the tattered remains of her once familiar home. She can almost see it, see Missy sitting on the couch with her pipe in her hand. Her blonde hair shining against the light coming from the window. Beth used to love Missy. She really did. She loved her. She was her mother. At least she pretended to be.

Beth lets herself wander around the living room absently. Her hands fall onto the dusty couch. Beth lefts a forest green blanket off of the back of the couch and sneezes when it lets out a puff of dust.

She sighs and drops the blanket back down to the couch. Her eyes scurry across the dirty room. Newspapers, glasses, used plates, and ashtrays all full of cigarette buds litter the space.

Beth falls back into the couch with a huff. The whole room filling with light dust. Beth can see it from the light streaming from the window behind her.

She lets her eyes take in the room one last time before sighing.

"Home sweet home."

* * *

**New story. Oh yeaaah. I have too much happening at once haha but that's okay. It distracts me from the bullshit that is this season of the walking dead. So here is the Under the Peach Grove spin off. I hope you guys like this. I love Under the Peach Grove but I wanted to play with something that had no zombies at all. Should be interesting.**

**Let me know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**_From Where You Are_**

_It's been 4 years since Beth left Claxton, Georgia with no intention of going back. But when Missy Shay dies mysteriously and the Dixon boys are falling into more and more trouble Beth can't find a reason not to go back. _

_(Spin off of Under the Peach Grove-don't need to read to understand)_

* * *

**Part 2**

_"If you said you were cold_  
_I would wrap my arms around you._  
_If you said you were thirsty I would give you the ocean blue._  
_I would give you anything: the moon, the stars, the sunset to"_  
_-Katiynd Jenkins_

Beth was elbow deep in shit. Not actual shit, of course. Piles and piles of Missy's belongings. All of the things that have accumulated over the years. Missy was not one to clean up after herself. She barely cleaned at all actually. Beth remembers how she would have to do the dishes, how she would have to pick up after Missy's drunken nights.

Beth sighs deeply as she drops more discarded, worthless pieces of paper into the trash.

"Hey, Bethy!" Chloe calls. Beth turns just as Chloe comes stumbling into the room.

"I found a picture of you as a kid!" She says happily. Beth raises her eyebrows as Chloe stumbles over to her. A worn out old polaroid is in her hands. It's Beth. A much smaller Beth. Actually it's_ Beth Anne_ to be exact. The small girl that grew up in this hell hole. That used to show off scars and bruises instead of new dresses and cute hair styles.

Beth's lips turn downwards at the sight of the photograph.

"It's adorable," Chloe says admiring her friend's small round face. She is sitting in the grass of the peach grove. Her hair is wild and free sticking out in all directions.

"Daryl took that," Beth says softly. Her hands reach out to take the photo. She stares at it silently for a few moments.

"I remember that day," Beth whispers maybe for herself maybe for Chloe, "We stole the polaroid camera from Will's room. He had bought it so that he could get more photos of Merle and Daryl. He wanted to remember them as kids forever."

Beth flips the photograph over and takes in the neat hand writing on the other side, "Missy must have written this." _Bethany Anne Greene Summer of '03_. "I was nine I think," Beth says absently.

_Greene._

Beth furrows her eyebrows and flips the photo over again, wanting to forget about her birth name and the parents that had given her up.

Chloe, as if sensing Beth's sadness says, "What happened, Bethy? You were so cute then." She falls into a fit of laughter. Beth gently swats at Chloe's arm and laughs lightly at her friend's teasing.

They finish most of the living room by noon. Beth is amazed how quickly the two of them have gone through Missy's belongings. It was mostly because half of the things the woman owned was junk. Fortunately, Beth has no hard feelings in throwing most of it away.

She only saves a few keepsakes. The photo of Beth when she was nine and the crystal ashtray that was sitting on the coffee table.

"I can use it," Chloe states as she lights up a cigarette in the living room while they take a break, "I mean I can be classy and white trash all at once." Beth laughs at her and then swats the smoke away from her face because she knows it pisses Chloe off.

Beth is fiddling with her bracelets on the couch as Chloe puts out her finished cigarette and stands to leave.

"I've got work at 3," She states looking down at her watch, "I have to go home and shower, I smell like stale alcohol and old people… no offense."

Beth shakes her head, "None taken."

As Chloe's car takes off, leaving behind dust from the gravel road, Beth contemplates if she has the willpower to continue her cleaning. She takes a peek over to the Dixon household. The screen in porch door is open and Beth can see that Will's truck is parked in its usual place beside the home.

Without a second thought Beth closes her front door and walks over.

She can smell something sweet and tangy as she steps up to the screened in porch. The front door is sitting open and the sound of Will Dixon whistling echoes in Beth's ears.

She knocks soundly. The whistling stops and soon Will is peeking his head out the open door.

"Beth Anne!" He says happily, "You have no idea how good it is to see you standing on my porch again. Usually it's that idiot Mark from the front office."

Beth smiles to herself. She had always gotten along with Mr. Mark. But as she got older she saw the way that the man's eyes lingered on her legs when she wore shorts, or how he would lick his lips if she had a bathing suit on. Beth cringed at the thought but pushed it aside.

"Well come in," Will says as he steps back into the house, "You don' ever gotta knock, Beth Anne."

She smiles and enters the screened in porch and makes her way into the living room. Will is standing by the kitchen table with a giant mason jar set in front of him.

The smell of cinnamon and orange juice fills her nose and makes her a bit nauseous.

"What are you doin', Mr. Dixon?" Beth asks. She thinks she already knows what he is doing.

"Moonshine," He says with a cracked grin. He looks over his shoulder at her, "When the hell did you start callin' me Mr. Dixon?" He asks as an after thought. Beth laughs and walks over to the table.

"Well, you _are_ Mr. Dixon," She adds with a sly grin.

"Makin' me sound old and shit," Will concludes. He returns his attention to his moonshine concoction.

"When'd you start makin' moonshine?" She asks looking over the many bottles of clear liquid. The mason jars are all full and Beth can't help but think that that is a lot of alcohol for one man.

"Bout time the boys startin' taken off every so often," He says casually, "Was bored. Ain't nothin' to do when your kids are gone and your cat is off makin' babies."

Beth's eyes widened, "Pepper has kittens?"

Will looks at her with a look of exasperation, "Kittens? More like fuckin' monsters. There were so many that I had to bring some of them to the pet store in town. You know what I would do with kittens? Nothin'. I kept one so that Pepper wouldn't get lonely. The two of them go out everyday and come back once in a while."

Beth smiles wide at that. Her cat is alive. She has always loved Pepper. When she had found the large orange cat she knew that she would become her best friend.

But, Missy didn't want it. That was the same day that the Dixon's moved in. She immediately went to Will and begged him to take the cat. He did. He even gave her, her name.

Beth picked up the dark colored bottle of moonshine and swished it around.

"What's this flavor?" She asks looking to Will. He takes a peek at the bottle then says, "That there is Apple Pie Moonshine."

"Apple pie?" She repeats, "Is it good?"

Will simply shrugs, "Don't know. I don't drink the stuff."

Beth raises her eyebrows and stares at him in confusion, "Then why do ya make it?"

Will cocks her a sly grin, "I sell it to them northerners that stay in the park durin' the summer. Idiots get excited to meet a real redneck that makes some real moonshine. Most of 'em can't stand the taste so I'm makin' it flavored." He laughs at Beth's surprised look, "Hey! Gotta lotta time on my hands."

Beth looks over the apple pie moonshine and then looks at Will, "Can I have this?"

Will nods, "Sure thing, kiddo. On the house."

Beth smiles and nods. She doesn't know why she is taking it. She has never had a drink of alcohol in her life before. Not even a sip. Beth was a party goer when she was 15. But she had never gotten drunk. She simply pretended to drink, carrying around a red solo cup full of water. That was how she met Chloe. Chloe kept her secret for her.

Will places slices of oranges into a mason jar of moonshine and seals it shut.

"Think it'll be too tangy?" He asks absently.

Beth shrugs and watches as the orange seeps out into the alcohol turning it a light yellow color.

"I honestly started sellin' this stuff cause I needed the money," Will says darkly, "I had to leave the shop. Hurt my back real bad and couldn't go back. With the campground shuttin' down and all I'm gonna have to find a new place to live."

Beth's eyes widened, "The campground is shuttin' down?"

Will looks at her with confusion, "Didn't anybody tell you that, kiddo? That's why they wanted you to clean out Missy's house. Mark is tryin' to sell the place."

"What? Why?" Beth asks desperately.

She loved this place. She loved growing up here. She loved the peach grove and the forest and the field of cat tails. She loved the creek that her and Daryl used to swim in together during the summer. She loved all of it.

Will nods sadly, "Place is fallen apart. Mark is too old to fix it up."

"How much you got saved from the moonshine?" Beth asks.

"Couple thousand, why?" Will sees the idea being born inside Beth's brain, "AH, hell no, kiddo. I ain't buyin' this place!"

Beth nods fervently, "It's brilliant! We can redo the whole place! We can clean up the peach grove and start sellin' peaches again, rent out spaces to campers! It's brilliant!"

Will seems to think about it seriously for a solid moment.

"It's a lot of risk, Beth Anne," he says with worry, "Besides, If you want to be apart of this then you gotta stay. No more runnin', kid."

Beth wonders if she can do that. Doesn't know if she can manage to keep herself in Claxton, Georgia longer than she will need to to clean up Missy's belongings. She doesn't know if she can manage to that. Maybe she can. Maybe she can stop running, settle down, restart her life. But she can't make that decision right now, not with Will Dixon staring at her with big blue eyes.

"Looks like we both got somethin' to think about," Will says with a shrug.

Beth can't help but agree with him.

A sharp knock comes from the screened in porch. Beth stiffens and looks over to Will. He grabs moonshine bottles and begins to hide them in his cabinets. He gestures for Beth to help him, quickly. When every last bottle is hidden Will turns to make his way towards the door. There is another sharp knock.

"I'm comin'!" Will calls. He glances over at Beth briefly. She shrugs in response to his look. Will rolls his eyes and heads to the opened front door.

"Oh!" Will says loudly, "Come in, Rick! Jesus! Scared the hell out-a-me!"

Beth leans forward to watch as a man in a tall brown sheriff's hat enters the Dixon home.

"Beth Anne," Will says loudly, "This here is Rick Grimes! He's a good man! Keepin' tabs on our boys while they are out messin' up Georgia."

Rick reaches out to shake Beth's hand, "Pleasure," He says deeply and with a smile. She only returns to smile half heartedly and shakes his hand with so little force that it's laughable.

"Mind if we have a talk, Will," Rick says looking over to the older Dixon man.

Will nods and shrugs, "Sure thang, Grimes. Beth Anne you can stay if you want." Will turns to Rick, "Anythin' you want to tell me you can tell this one. She's practically my daughter."

Beth smiles at Will affectionately. Closest thing to a real family she would every get is Will Dixon and his bottles of moonshine.

Rick nods and then gestures towards the dining room table, "Why don't we take a seat? This is going to be tough."

Beth and Will reluctantly take seats beside each other at the table. Rick sits across from them and removes his sheriff's hat. His hands run over the rim of the hat continuously as he speaks.

"Merle Dixon has been arrested," Rick says looking up to Beth and Will.

Neither seem shocked or surprised or upset. In fact Beth looks curious and Will just shakes his head in disappointment.

"KId never could keep himself out of trouble," Will says darkly.

Rick raises his eyebrows in question but doesn't ask.

"Well, it's pretty serious. Breaking and entering into a home while the family was sleeping. When we took him in he said that he wasn't doing anything wrong. Just looking for someone," Rick looks to Will and says, "He even claimed that it was at the wrong house."

"Did he say sorry?" Beth asks sarcastically.

Rick looks at her seriously and says, "He did actually."

Beth shuts her mouth then.

"What about Daryl?" Will asks, "That one never did get in trouble. But… do you know where he is?"

Rick shook his head sadly and lowered his eyes. "That is one of the reasons why I came here. No one has heard from Daryl Dixon in a few days. He hasn't stopped by my house in a while, or called to tell me he was taking off to another part of Georgia. Merle got arrested and it was like Daryl vanished into thin air."

Will glances to Beth beside him and then quickly looks back to Rick.

"Do you have any idea where he would go?" Will asks desperately.

Rick shakes his head, "We checked all of the usual places. Tyreese and Karen say that haven't seen Daryl in a few days. Daryl usually sleeps there when something bad happens. Dale hasn't heard from him about odd jobs. Hell, even Mickey says he hasn't been to the bar in weeks."

Will's face is beginning to contort into a state of panic. Beth sees it and instinctually places her hand over his on the table.

"We will find him," Beth whispers out, "I think I might know where he is."

Rick looks over to Beth in silent shock, "Where?"

"Atlanta."

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Beth knows that it is unusual to be so perceptive. Or in other words be a stalker. Which is what she had done at one point. She had caught a glimpse of Daryl Dixon in Atlanta one afternoon and then had followed him. She followed him all the way through the city, to the outskirts, to a random house in a nice little neighborhood. Beth wasn't one to stalk people usually. She never really thought that she was the type to do that sort of thing until the occasion arises. And then it just seemed that she couldn't help herself.

Beth has Will Dixon's truck. He refused to take the long ride to Atlanta saying that it would bother his back. Chloe had refused to come along as well, saying that she couldn't make that trip twice in one week.

Beth had sat in the car with the window open while Will leaned over and told her to be careful.

"How do you know I'll come back?" She asked in a soft whisper.

Will simply smirked at her, "Because you got nothin' to run from anymore."

It wasn't entirely true. But the main reason she ran from Claxton was now sitting 6 feet in the ground.

Beth sighs loudly as she takes the last turn onto the suburban street. Similar looking houses are all lined up beside each other in neat rows. Beth wasn't sure which one was the house that Beth saw Daryl go into that one night months ago. But she was sure that this is where he would be. Whoever lived in that house gave him some sort of comfort. So Beth was sure that he would go straight there.

She continues down the street until she sees something familiar. The oversized black motorcycle. Beth knows that it's Daryl's. This isn't the type of neighborhood for people to have their bikes lying around, let alone _own _a bike.

Beth pulls up beside the mailbox and puts the car in park.

She has to take several deep breaths before she is able to turn the truck off and jump out.

Beth keeps her hands tightly wrapped around the hem of her shirt as she walks up to the front door of the house.

With one last deep breath Beth raises her hand and knocks.

After several moments of footsteps shuffling inside the door opens slowly.

Beth almost passes out. The woman standing on the other side of the door is beautiful. She has curly short grey hair and big wide blue eyes. They're warm and inviting and Beth feels herself turning red as she stares at the woman.

"Um… um.. hi," Beth says dumbly. She shakes her head and then says, "Hi. My name is Beth. I know this sounds crazy but is there any chance that Daryl Dixon is here?"

The woman at the door breaks into a smile immediately.

"Why yes he is!" She says happily, "My name is Carol by the way! It's nice to meet, Beth."

Beth nods awkwardly and smiles at the woman. Carol turns into the house and hollers out for Daryl.

Beth chews on the inside of her lip as she stands outside of the house with Carol.

"Come in, honey," Carol says with a smile. She steps aside from the door to allow Beth to come in.

With a shuffle Beth steps into the house and takes a looks around.

It's homey. There are paintings and photos hanging on the wall. The furniture is new and warm. Beth swallows back a lump in her throat as she stands by the entrance of the house. She feels out of place. She doesn't belong here. Not in a place as nice as this. Not when a kind looking women smiling at her like she is.

Soft shuffling comes from the other room. Beth turns, expecting to see Daryl. But instead of her childhood friend she comes face to face with a 5 year old girl.

Her eyes are big and blue and her hair is a dirty blonde. Beth feels her throat begin to close. She looks like a Dixon. The sharp jaw line, the bright eyes, the dirty blonde hair that Daryl had when he was young.

Beth sucks in a breath as the little girl steps over to Carol.

"Mommy..." Her little voice asks, "Who is that?"

Beth doesn't wait for Carol to answer.

"I'm sorry," Beth blurts, "I have to go. This was a mistake."

Carol's mouth falls open to protest but Beth doesn't wait long enough to hear her. She turns on her heel and runs out of the house.

Her skin is on fire and her throat is constricting violently.

_I won't cry. I won't cry._

She doesn't know why she would. She knew Daryl has another life outside of Claxton. Hell, she knows that Daryl doesn't love her. He had told her himself that he didn't love her, but it hurt. And it burned and it left her feeling as if she was going to burst open.

Her heart was beating so heavily up her chest that it felt like her skull was going to explode from the pounding.

Beth jumped into the truck and started it.

It roared and then died out under her.

"Fuck," she spits out.

She turns the key again and the engine roars before dying out.

"No, no, no."

Beth hears the front door to Carol's house open loudly. She can hear her name being called but she doesn't look. She doesn't allow herself that split second.

She turns the key again and the engine jumps to life.

She doesn't wait.

She pops the car into drive and takes off down the road.

And she doesn't look back.

* * *

**eeeek! Chapter 2! I am loving writing this story so far. I love Beth and I really love Chloe. She's a precious little pancake.  
****I hope you are all enjoying this! Next chapter will have Daryl and a good old flashback!**

**Shout out to my amazing beta Yourroyalyaverageprincess!**

**Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**_From Where You Are_**

_It's been 4 years since Beth left Claxton, Georgia with no intention of going back. But when Missy Shay dies mysteriously and the Dixon boys are falling into more and more trouble Beth can't find a reason not to go back. _

_(Spin off of Under the Peach Grove-don't need to read to understand)_

* * *

**Part 3**

_How drugs when drugs were_  
_Undid the good almost entirely_  
_But not entirely_  
_Because good could always be seen  
__Glimmering like lame glimmers  
__In the window of a shop  
__Called Beautiful  
__Things Never Last Forever.  
__-You Were You Are Elegy by Mary Jo Bang_

xxx

Beth remembers leaving Claxton like it was yesterday. She had gotten into a fight with Daryl the night before. A long loud screaming match in the middle of the street. She had left town the next day and had not looked back. Even though she had told him that she loved him.

That was her first of many mistakes, telling Daryl Dixon that she loved him.

Beth has known that she has loved him since they were kids. They would play house and every time they would pretend to be married, living in the small plastic log cabin that sits on the side of the Dixon house. She would tell him she loved him while they were playing and every time Daryl would laugh and tell her she was weird.

Telling someone you love them when you are 15 is a lot different when you are 5. And she had screamed it across the street to him her eyes full of wet tears, her make up running down her face in a black smudge.

Then, she didn't even wait for a reply. She had fled the scene and the next day she had left town altogether.

Beth knew that Daryl could never love her. Not really. Not in the way that she wanted. She also knows that that is a complete lie. If anyone has the ability to love someone with their entire heart it is Daryl Dixon.

Beth knows that she has been lying to herself since she left. Telling herself that there was no way that Daryl would ever love her. Maybe it was to make it easier, it hurt less to be away from him if she convinced herself that he didn't want her. But now it was unavoidable. She drove by the house next door and she was reminded over and over of Daryl Dixon and the woman that he is living with and the little girl that has his eyes.

It's like her heart is breaking all over again.

Chloe keeps talking, chirping away in Beth's ear. But she doesn't acknowledge her. She's too busy filling her head with lies.

'He's not yours.'

'He doesn't love you.'

Beth wants to throw the table over in the kitchen and scream. All of this has been building in her for so long.

When she was by herself in that little motel in Atlanta she would think of him. It brought her comfort. His gentle words, his light smiles, the way his fingers would run over her arm when he wanted to get her attention. In those moments she would pretend that he loved her. And she loved him back.

Chloe waves her hand in front of Beth's face and Beth promptly pushes her hand away.

"God, Beth what is going on?" Chloe asks with annoyance dripping through each word.

If there was anyway to put Beth's feelings into words it would be fuck. She feels that word every sense of it, fucked up, fucking sad, fucking angry.

A part of her feels like she is throwing a tantrum. One that would put a 5 year old to shame- all kicking legs and flailing arms.

Chloe groans loudly at her.

"I hate when you do this! It's like you're shutting down! Beth you aren't a computer! Come back to life please," Chloe says loudly from across the table, "I don't know why you are acting like this but it needs to stop."

Beth finally looks up to her friend. Chloe's hair is sticking out of the messy bun on the top of her head. Her eyes are puffy and red, like she has been crying- or maybe she's just sick. Beth furrows her eyebrows at her friend's appearance. How did she not notice sooner?

"Are you okay?" Beth asks. Chloe is the pretty one. The one that dresses up for every occasion. Some days she even looks like a runway model or one of the women Beth would see on magazine covers. Long legs, slick black hair, dark eyeliner. Now she seems to be half alive. All over her model looks taken from her.

"Allergies," Chloe says curtly. Her face is scrunched with annoyance at the change of subject.

"Seriously, Beth," Chloe pleads, "What happened in Atlanta?"

It wasn't so much what happened in Atlanta and more of what didn't.

Maybe Chloe was asking about those four years in Atlanta. What had happened? She had slept for weeks, not leaving her bed in that crappy motel. She had taken the bus to Señoia about a hundred times and every single time she would get right back on and take the bus back. Nothing had happened in Atlanta. She had wallowed in her misery and now she was back, wallowing in the same amount of misery in a place that felt as if it was closing in on her.

Beth wanted to tell Chloe what had happened, with Daryl she means, but it would feel childish. He wasn't hers. And she wasn't his. So why was she even upset?

"Nothing happened, Chloe," Beth states, "No one was there."

Chloe groans loudly once again and sits back in her chair.

"You are a terrible liar," she states her fingers running over the edge of the kitchen table over and over. Beth watches Chloe's lean hands make smooth movements. Maybe if she pretends she isn't losing her mind then she will feel better.

Beth shakes her head at Chloe. "I'm not terrible you just know me too well," Beth says, "What happened in Atlanta doesn't matter. What matters is getting this paperwork sorted so I can find the stupid lease for this house."

Chloe seems unconvinced but doesn't push the matter any further. She sighs softly and looks back to the papers in front of her.

Beth watches Chloe carefully before resuming her work as well.

"If you want to talk about it," Chloe says softly, "I'm here. I know it's hard, Beth. But you have me. I'm always here for you."

Beth steadies her hands and looks up to Chloe. A smile pushes it's way into her lips as she studies her friend.

"Thank you," Beth says.

A knock comes from the front door and they both look over to it in surprise.

"Oh god," Beth says, as she stands from the table, "I really hope this isn't Mark. He'll probably just tell me how many days I have left before I need to leave."

Beth gives Chloe a nervous look before she turns and makes her way to the front door.

She pulls it open and freezes when she sees who is standing there in front of her.

Daryl fucking Dixon.

She slams the door shut in his face.

'Oh god what did I just do?'

"Who is it?" Chloe calls from the kitchen.

Beth turns just as Chloe makes her way towards the entrance.

"What?" Chloe asks as she takes in Beth's wide eyes and half opened mouth.

There is a knock at the door again and a deep voice comes through, "Beth. Open up."

Chloe's eyes go wide and her face mimics the expression in Beth's.

"Holy shit," Chloe mouths to her. They both continue to stand in the entrance hallway looking like scared children.

"C'mom, Beth! Seriously open the door!" Daryl calls knocking once again.

Beth feels like her heart is going to explode. Her chest constricts painfully as she forces herself to breath.

Chloe is the first to move. She heads out of the entrance and into the kitchen, leaving Beth's view all together.

The next thing she knows she is hearing Chloe talking outside.

"Oh hey, Daryl!" Beth hears Chloe's voice on the other side of the door.

Beth would laugh if she wasn't feeling so tense. Chloe had climbed out of the back window and went around front to distract Daryl. Who knows, maybe it will work. But Beth thinks that the odds aren't in her favor today.

"What are you doing back in town!" Chloe asks, "You got tired of babysitting Merle's kid?"

Beth sucks in a breath. That little girl wasn't Daryl's? Then that means that Carol wasn't Daryl's girlfriend or wife? Did that mean that Beth really had a full day of teenage angst over nothing? She feels like she might throw up.

Daryl grunts out a response that Beth can't make out through the thick front door.

"Beth isn't home," Chloe says slyly.

Beth wants to roll her eyes. Of course she's home she just slammed the door in his face.

Daryl snorts out and says, "She just slammed her damn door in my face!" At least they still think a like.

Beth could imagine Chloe's stance right now as she says, "Yeah, well maybe that means she doesn't wanna see you."

Beth lets her head fall back against the door. Her eyes close slowly as she waits for Daryl's response. For any response.

It's quiet for a moment on the other side of the wooden door. Finally Daryl speaks up.

"Don't know why she's so pissed at me. Just tell her I came by alright?" He asks. Beth hears Chloe give him a 'mhm' before the sound of his boots walking down the steps fills her ears.

After a few moments Beth hears the door knock again.

"Hey, Bethy," says Chloe soft and sweetly, "Open up."

Beth steps away from the door and twists the knob so that Chloe can slip in. Once her friend is inside Beth slams the door shut.

"I hate to play devil's advocate but maybe you should talk to him," Chloe suggests as she looks Beth in the eye, "He seems just as lost as you are."

Beth watches Chloe's back in disbelief as her friend saunters back into the kitchen. Her eyes move to the front door, her mind wandering to Daryl. He's back. And maybe that's a good thing. But Beth can't seem to believe it.

She had made a mistake. He came back for her. So why was she so afraid to open the door and see him? To hear his voice again? To hug him?

Beth closed her eyes tightly and shuts it away. She will deal with it another day.

XXxxXXxXxxXxxXxx

Chloe wasn't sure why she did certain things. She always tried to be a good person, always tried to help when she could. But she also tried to be tough. She had watched her mom get walked over by a different man every week, and she had vowed to never let anyone walk all over her, man or woman.

Sometimes Chloe was jealous of Beth. The small blonde girl marches to the beat of her own drum, and she might not know it but she is tough. The toughest person Chloe knows.

She tries her best to be good. She really does, but then most of the time she ends up being bad. Lying, sleeping around, drinking, all of the things that teenage girls do. All of the things that she is beginning to really regret.

Chloe's still a bit hung over when she goes to the Dixon household on Sunday morning. The night before had been a blur of strange girls and large amounts of alcohol. If Beth had seen her- she doesn't even want to think about it.

She lifts her hand and knocks on the screened in porch of the Dixon house.

Beth doesn't know that Chloe is here. In fact Beth is at the city hall getting a copy of Missy Shay's birth certificate- so Chloe knows that she can get away with this without Beth every finding out.

There is no response to her knock. Chloe looks to the motorcycles, and the truck sitting next to the small home. She rolls her eyes and knocks once again, this time louder and with more conviction.

"What the hell is that?"

Chloe almost turns around, almost.

There were a lot of people that she doesn't get along with. Merle Dixon is one of them.

The front door inside the porch flies open and Merle Dixon emerges, all shaved head and dark eyes.

"Well looky here," Merle says, a wide grin growing on his face, "If it isn't little Lezzy comin' to say hello."

Chloe feels her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Out of all of the people that Chloe has met in Claxton, Georgia Merle has always, and will always be, the most irritating out of all of them.

"Good to see you too, Merle," Chloe says with as little affection as she can manage, "Can I talk to Daryl, please?"

Merle quirks his eyebrows and looks over his shoulder.

"Yo, Daryl come 'ere," Merle turns back to Chloe and flashes a smile.

"Just one second, kid."

Chloe forces herself to remain passive. If Merle wasn't 6 ft and couldn't bench press three times her weight she would have knocked him out already.

Daryl comes walking over to the front door. His hair is sticking up in all directions, his eyes are puffy and he looks half asleep.

"Jesus," Chloe says, "You look like the dead walking."

Merle chuckles loudly and slaps Daryl on the shoulder.

"Little brother didn't get much sleep last night. Too much partying with ole' Merle," Merle laughs out.

Chloe eyes Daryl warily. He shrugs his brother off and turns his attention to Chloe.

"Don't listen to him," Daryl mumbles out, "We stayed in and drank 'shine."

"Not that it is any of my business," Chloe states. She walks up the short distance to the screened in porch and lets herself in.

"We need to talk, Daryl," She says looking between the two Dixon brothers.

Daryl nods, "Alright."

Merle continues to stand there expectantly.

Chloe eyes him before saying, "Shouldn't you be in jail or something?"

Merle barks out a laugh, "I was released! Tried to sneak into my old lady's house one night and ended up in the neighbors!" He continues to laugh at his own stupidity and Chloe can't help but smile a little. For a grown man he has the mind of a 13 year old.

"Merle," Daryl says warningly, "Give us a second."

The older man raises his hands in defeat, "Fine! I best be gettin' back to Carol anyways. See you later little brother!" He sticks his head into the house and yells a goodbye to Will Dixon.

He steps around Chloe and pats her on the head affectionately.

"Stay wild, shorty," He teases. He jumps away like a graceful cat before Chloe has a chance to send a slap his way.

Chloe watches the older Dixon go in slight annoyance, she waits until he on his motorcycle and the engine kicks to life before turning to Daryl.

"What happened between you and Beth when she left Claxton?" Chloe says jumping straight into the heart of the topic. She has learned, through trial and error, that the best way to get an answer out of the Dixon boys was to ask them straight forward, if they are given the chance they will dance around the question until you forget about it all together.

"Why does that matter?" Daryl asks raising his eyebrows.

Chloe wonders if he is completely stupid or if he is pretending that it isn't important.

"'Cause I would like to know why the two of you, thick as thieves, can't even manage to be in the same room together anymore," Chloe says, she rests her hands on her hips in an attempt to show him how serious she thinks this is. Daryl continues to seem puzzled.

"She's the one that's got a problem," He says with a shrug, "I tried to go to her house, you 'member. She slammed the door in my face."

Chloe chews on the inside of her lip in thought. Daryl and Beth had been inseparable as children. It seemed that up until the year that Beth had turned 14 the two of them were always together. Chloe had the pleasure, not exactly, of going to school with Daryl. Whenever another student asked him to hang out after school his answer was always, 'sorry I'm hangin' with Beth.' And Chloe didn't know until a short year later who exactly this 'Beth' person was, but she did know that she was something special- Chloe still thinks Beth is.

"Well, did something happen between you two before she left? I know that she was… kind of off after she left Claxton. I know how the thing with her mom really messed her up but… was there anything else?" Chloe asks seriously.

Daryl shuffles from one foot to the other and his hand immediately shoots up to his lips. He chews on the edge of his thumb in his typical anxious fashion.

"I know that look," Chloe says, she raises a long manicured finger and points it in Daryl's face, "I know that look so fucking well, what are you hiding?"

Daryl pulls his hand away in a rush.

"I ain't hidin' anything!" He exclaims shrugging off Chloe like he would a moth.

"Don't you dare go shruggin' this off Daryl Dixon!" Chloe barks out, "What happened? So we can make it better!"

There is a lull of silence between them and Chloe sees the exact moment that Daryl gives up. His eyes lower, his shoulders slump, and the light blue of his eyes turn deep and dark like the ocean.

"Oh," Is all Chloe can manage to get out.

It makes sense. Suddenly after a whole four years of dealing with Daryl angst and Beth slowly spiraling into a depression (that Chloe wasn't sure that she would recover from) it all has become crystal clear. They are in love with each other, and when Beth left she made a giant rip- a tear- between them that neither seemed to know how to fix. Good thing Chloe likes sewing.

"Well," Chloe says awkwardly, she clears her throat and stands up straighter, her slim shoulders raising to show confidence.

"We can fix it," She declares.

Daryl rolls his eyes and scoffs at her.

"Don't even know where to begin," He says, "When Beth left… the night before, at Timmy Mackey's party, you remember that night?"

Chloe had to wrack her brain for a moment. There were a lot of parties, a lot of long nights spent drowning in liquor and mistakes.

"I think so," Chloe says when something comes back to her memory, "Was that the night that Mike Bean tried to turn the swimming pool into jell-o?"

Daryl snorts out half of a laugh and nods, "The night before Beth left. The two of you went together and you called me drunk off your ass telling me that I had to come get Beth because she was being stupid."

All of the pieces fell together in Chloe's mind with a snap.

"Oh," Chloe mumbles out for the second time, "That was the night that she was hanging all over Timmy, and I thought that she was going to make a huge mistake." Chloe looks up to Daryl in awe before asking, "What happened that night?"

The sound of a car crunching on gravel caught Chloe's attention. She turns from her spot on the screened in porch to see a beat up old Subaru kicking up dust on the street.

Beth.

"Oh shit," Chloe says suddenly, she jumps into action and quickly jumps into the open door of the Dixon residence.

Will is sitting on the couch, in one hand is a piece of wood and in the other is a sharp hunting knife.

Chloe freezes by the door at the sight of him.

"Are you whittling?" She asks in disbelief.

"Sure come on in, Chloe" Will says in his usual sarcastic tone.

Chloe ignores the man and heads straight to the back window. Daryl is one step behind her, he keeps up in a silent fashion, watching with curiosity as Chloe opens the window and begins to climb out.

"She don't know you're here, huh?" Daryl asks with a low sigh. Chloe stops her movement as she is half way out of the window. She looks over to Daryl and says, "You can fix this, Dixon. It doesn't matter what happened. You should have seen her face yesterday when you came to the door. I haven't seen her look so alive since…" Chloe falls silent before picking back up, "I don't know what happened, and it doesn't really matter. Just make it right. Just talk to her! Break into the house if you have to!"

Chloe releases her hold on the window and drops gracefully to the grass below.

Daryl leans out the window and watches her.

"Trust me," Chloe says. She peaks around the side of the house to be sure that Beth's car has passed without her being seen. She looks back up to Daryl, "It's been four years," She says, "It's time we all moved on."

She turns on her heal and makes her way to her car which is parked in front of the pick-up truck.

Daryl watches her go, his head hanging out of the window. He sighs to himself and rests his head on his arm.

He can't help but wish that fixing his relationship with Beth was as simple as Chloe made it seem.

* * *

**OMG what a delay. Writer's block has been brutal lately.  
**

**Let me know what you think!**


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